Did Saudi King Salman asked for release of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz?

Did Saudi King Salman asked for release of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz?

*ISLAMABAD - Rumours have surfaced about Saudi King Salman asking for release of Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.*

*The Saudi king did not ask Pakistan to release Nawaz Sharif, the information minister has stressed to quash rumours.* In a briefing to the press on Thursday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry rubbished speculation that this had happened. “He [Nawaz] is not that important,” he added.

These theories emerged as Prime Minister Imran Khan met King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz in Jeddah on Wednesday — the same day that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were released from Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi. The Islamabad High Court suspended their sentences in the Avenfield property corruption case. The timing was certainly noted in politically active circles.

Chaudhry said that people absconding in corruption cases must return to Pakistan.

“The names of Nawaz and [his daughter] Maryam Nawaz will not be removed from the Exit Control List,” he said at a press briefing on Thursday. He said this applied to people such as former finance minister Ishaq Dar and Nawaz Sharif’s sons, Hassan and Hussain. “There will be no deal over this.”